Shanghai new home sales ease in latest week

New home-buying sentiment eased moderately in Shanghai last week despite a notable rebound in new supply, the latest market data showed.

The total area of new residential properties sold, excluding government-subsidized affordable housing, fell 4.1 percent week over week to around 167,000 square meters during the seven-day period ending Sunday, extending the downturn into a second week, Shanghai Centaline Property Consultants Co said in a regular report issued on Monday.

Across the city, western Qingpu District, where some 24,000 square meters of new homes were unloaded, was the only area above the 20,000-square-meter mark. Minhang and Fengxian districts followed most closely, selling 18,000 square meters and 16,000 square meters, respectively.

"Inadequate supply in previous weeks led to a mild retreat in sales but overall volume continued to stay above the 150,000-square-meter mark, which was an acceptable weekly figure," said Lu Wenxi, Centaline's senior researcher. "As new supply improved notably, we expect momentum among buyers to pick up soon."

About 194,000 square meters of new houses spanning five projects were released into the local market last week, a surge of 112.8 percent from the previous seven-day period.

The average new home cost, meanwhile, withdrew 5.7 percent week over week to 55,746 yuan (US$8,011) per square meter, mainly caused by a structural shift toward medium- to low-end projects.

Not a single project costing 100,000 yuan per square meter or above made its way into the list of top-10 projects, compared with four during the previous period, according to Centaline data.

Topping last week's list were two projects in suburban Baoshan and Qingpu districts, both costing less than 40,000 yuan per square meter. The two projects sold a combined 85 units, or less than 10,000 square meters in total, evidence of sluggish momentum among home seekers.

A development in the Pudong New Area ranked No. 3 after selling 37 units for an average price of 84,695 yuan per square meter, making it the most expensive project on the list.